Pioneering works from the legendary Koln studio - founded in 1951 at one of Germany's major radio stations - that move through the early strict serial approach to synthetic materials into the many and different approaches to the sonic opportunities synthesis uncovered. Where Musique Concrète took all recordable sound as its instrument, Koln began with purely electronically generated sound - first using a trautonium and a melochord, and then simple tone generators, filters and primitive processing equipment. These pieces, mostly never released before in any form, represent according to one of the composers, a fair cross section of the work done at the studio between 1952 - 58 (with the exception of already famous works by Stockhausen, Kagel and Krenek). Represented are: Herbert Eimert, Robert Beyer, Gottfried Michael Koenig, Henri Pousseur, Franco Evangelisti, Györgi Ligeti, Karel Goeyvaerts, Paul Gredinger, Giselher Klebe and Herbert Brün. Excellent booklet notes.L